June 2016 ambassador magazine fc edition final

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ot long ago we took a trip to Atlanta and while in the Olympic City we decided to purposefully encounter some of their southern cuisine. So what did we do? We found our way to Gladys Knight's "Chicken and Waffles." We had been traveling all day long and we could smell the food outside but could not go in. You see, there was a line nearly out of the door. We had to do something that none of us like to do. We had to stand in line and just wait.

Okay let's cut through the chase and admit it.

Waiting gets on our last nerve. But, all of us are waiting on something. Sick people are waiting to be healed, some single people are waiting to be married, children are waiting to be teenagers, teenagers are waiting to be grown, grown folks are waiting to be wealthy and have someone take care of them for a change, sisters are waiting to exhale, older people are waiting to be respected, college kids are waiting to graduate and our friends in Haiti are waiting on relief. Everyone is waiting on something.

The healing news for today however it this: There is someone that you can wait on and when the wait is over you can shout these words with passion, purpose and power, it was worth the wait! In Psalm 27 David brings healing to every waiting soul when he gives a word of illumination to those in darkness by declaring that "The Lord is my light and my salvation..." He moves from illumination to consecration. He tells that he only desires one thing from the Lord and that is to "...dwell in the house of the Lord all of the days of His life..." After the word of illumination and consecration he then downloads a word elevation when he shouts, "...when father and

mother forsake then the Lord will take me up..." In other words, when what was supposed to hold me up collapses the Lord shall keep me in His hands. But, he concludes with a word of hope and healing for everyone that is waiting on the Lord he says, "Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and He shall strengthen thine heart, wait I say on the Lord!"

So what is the real blessing in waiting on the Lord?

First, your portion is from above. The reason why waiting on the Lord is so worth it, is because what He wants you to have is greater than what you thought you could have ever received! The word "wait" used in the text is quavah and it is in the piel stem and the imperfect mood. It means to look to a larger source to have needs met. Like a child looks to a parent so we look to God. The only problem is that you do not get what you want when you want it.

So the only way to get it is to wait for it! The shouting news of the day however is this, everything that you need is available through your source and the storehouse is full! In other words, God's it!

Healing...He has your portion. Deliverance...He has your portion. Direction...He has your portion. Your portion is in His hands so wait on Him!!!

Secondly, waiting on God is worth it because your perseverance comes from within. You will never gain strength hanging around with weak people. This is why you always want to be found with saints that are strong in the faith that have been through hell and hurt, and came out of it with a testimony and a scar. It is because you discover that the God that is within their soul kept them and gave them strength!

David says it this way, "...be of good courage and He

shall strengthen thine heart..." This should read like this, "...and He shall make you tough and cause you to endure from the inside." Let's be honest, waiting can make you want to quit. But, when you feel like giving up talk like the people that have made it and say "I am going to hold on to the Lord until my break through comes!" And when you do this, strength comes from the inside to keep you and cause your waiting to be your blessing!

And lastly, waiting on God is worth it because your plight is in His plans. Oh My God this is soooooo wonderful!

Listen to this and put it in your spirit, the reason why you need to wait on God is because what you want for you is not good enough for you. In other words, God's plans are much better than your plans. So, learn how to wait! The Psalmist ends the verse the same way he begins the verse. In short, this verse will bless you going and coming. It says, "Wait on the Lord.....wait on the Lord." It is written twice because the Hebrew language does not have punctuation marks. So there was no way to shout a phrase, so they just wrote it twice. So look at this four word phrase as if it were written like this, "WAIT ON THE LORD!!!!!!!!!!" Why? Because your steps are being ordered by the Lord and right now where you are is not a moment of conclusion it is a step in your progression that will end in a celebration of victory. So wait on God because it is worth it!

We waited for a good while at Gladys Knight's restaurant. But, when we got ready to leave people were walking slow with doggie bags in hand and tooth pics dangling from their lips. And one dear friend said to me as we boarded the bus to go to the hotel, "It took a while, but it was worth the wait." Now if waffles from Gladys were worth waiting on, surely the God of heaven is worth your wait too! Wait on the Lord and know that your best days are yet to come!

Scripture Verse: Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved

There’s a ministry here for you! Get up, Get Active, Get Involved! Join a ministry TODAY!

Single Parents' Ministry 

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Congratulations to Airman Stephen Jamal Simon (son of Mary Simon and Joseph Simon, Jr,) on his completion of basic training at the United States Navy Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois. The Pass-In-Review, RTC Graduation was held on April 29, 2016. Stephen was in Division 164 and received the Academic Excellence Award for being #1 out of 563 sailors in nine divisions. He stood tall and proud representing our great country, Beaumont, Texas and Antioch Missionary Baptist Church. Special thank you to all who prayed and sent cards and letters encouraging Stephen to do his best and leave the rest to God. Well done Airman Stephen Simon.

Congratulations to all the 2016 graduates in all grade levels and colleges.

Congratulations on our graduates attending their respective school proms. The single parents spent endless hours ensuring their children had all they needed to look absolutely beautiful and handsome.

Congratulations to Lady Dorrie Adolph and the FLO Ministry for another awesome Ladies Conference.

The Singe Parents' Ministry met, Monday, May 10, 2016 for our monthly fellowship. Discussion was centered around encouraging our children to do their best in every area of their life. Parents and children participated in giving their praise reports and prayer requests. The fellowship concluded in prayer.

Parents were reminded of the upcoming Women Of Purpose 3rd Annual Retreat sponsored by Minister Kim Hardy. This year's theme is "The Power Of A Flower."

In lieu of a monthly fellowship in June 2016, each family was encouraged to participate in all events in this year's Family Conference.

The next Single Parents' Monthly Fellowship is Monday, July 11, 2016, in Fellowship Hall A, at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, at 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm. Please bring the children with you to the ministry fellowship as it is so necessary that they witness our love for God. You do not need to be a member of Antioch to participate in this fellowship. If you have any questions, please contact Mary Simon, ministry leader at mrysim@sbcglobal.net or via Facebook or any other parent who is actively involved in the ministry.

Therapon Certification School Will be held August 4-6, 2016 in Chapel. For additional information call or email Rev. Louis Vaughn @ 409-363-4533, vaughn6042@sbcglobal.net

Vacation Bible School Ocean Commotion, June 20th-24th, 9am-12:30pm. Grades K-6. If there are any “high-schoolers” who desire to obtain volunteer hours for the summer, this event will be a perfect opportunity! Please contact our Youth Pastor, Dr. James Mable if you are interested!

Prison-Outreach Ministry Let the Lord be magnified, which takes pleasure in the prosperity of his servants! (Psalms 35-27) Brief Praise Report of what God is doing behind the Prison Walls! On 4-29-16 at the Larry Gist Unit over 50 men attended service; 4 first time salvation! To God be the Glory! On May 7, 2016 at the Federal Low Complex, there were over 40 men in attendance, one first time salvation and many men received prayer for healing and deliverance! To God be the Glory for the great things He has done for the men and women behind the prison walls!

Prison/ Outreach Up-Coming Events for June 2016  June 12, 2016- 2:00- 3:00 PM-Weiss Park- Feeding the inner-city brothers and sisters  June 24, 2016- 6:30- 9:00 PM- Leblanc Unit- Worship, Word, Prayer Service  Jefferson County Jail and local State Prisons- Inmate visit upon request.

If you have any questions regarding Prison-Outreach Ministry or to request inmate visit, please contact Rev. Albert Chargois at 409- 861-1277- HM/ 409-201-1216- Cell or email albertchargois@sbcglobal.net

Golden Years’ Ministry 

All members who are 55+ or anyone who likes to fellowship with mature adults are invited to join us. Meetings are the 1st Monday of each month at 1 pm. We are planning many interesting and informative activities for this year. Contact the office for additional information.

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Golden Years’ Ministry 16th Anniversary Celebration will be held at Hilton Garden Inn, 3755 Interstate 10 S, first Monday, June 6, 2016 - 1 pm.

There’s a ministry here for you! Get up, Get Active, Get Involved! Join a ministry TODAY!

Independent reading requires a broad range of leveled texts

Today’s Independent Reading (IR) programs differ significantly from SSR and DEAR. Effective IR programs require active teacher engagement, time, a broad range of leveled texts, talk around texts, and differentiated instruction. The benefits are well worth it: increased student achievement, motivation, and a love of reading.

Every child needs a chance to read independently in school. In the frenzy to prepare students for large-scale assessments, some schools are limiting independent reading (IR) time. Yet the Common Core State Standards themselves advocate student independent reading from a multiplicity of genre. In fact, some argue that Common Core materials should “increase regular independent reading of texts that appeal to students’ interests while developing both their knowledge base and joy in reading” (Coleman & Pimental, 2012, p. 4).

Now more than ever, research studies provide guidance for creating IR programs that contribute to achievement. The teacher is a central player in these programs, setting the stage and directing the action that makes IR work. Today’s IR programs should differ significantly from Sustained Silent Reading (SSR), Drop Everything and Read (DEAR), and earlier iterations of IR.

Not too long ago, most classroom libraries were composed of mainly fictional texts — stories, myths, legends, fantasies, and more. Today, however, we know students need to read from many different genres including informational trade books, newspapers, magazines, online resources, primary source documents, plays, poems, graphical texts, and biographies. Most experts recommend that classroom libraries include 50% literary texts and 50% informational texts. Some texts should be leveled so that all students have access to books appropriate to their reading levels. This does not mean that every IR book a student selects must be easy; when students pick harder books that can stretch them, they may need additional teacher scaffolding to ensure success. In addition to access, students need their teachers to teach them to select books. Teachers need to model strategies students can use to carefully select a rich variety of texts for IR.

Talk around texts is an essential component of Independent reading Earlier forms of IR placed little emphasis upon talk around texts. Today we know that even 10 minutes of talk around texts can enhance achievement (Nystrand, 2006). Both small-group and large-group conversations can contribute to critical thinking, metacognition, and argument construction.

Strategies like Instructional Conversations and Questioning the Author let students share what they have learned from texts.

Independent reading involves the full participation of the teacher This means the teacher is instructing, scaffolding, and conferring with students (Reutzel, Fawson, & Smith, 2008) during IR time. For example, the teacher educates students in how to select appropriate books, scaffolds student understanding of specific text types, and confers with students to assess their understanding of what they have read.

Independent reading requires an investment of time Children need time to read — a lot of time. Time spent reading contributes to reading achievement in ways that simply doing worksheets or other activities does not (Allington, 2002; Foorman et al., 2006). Time is not a one-size-fits-all proposition, however. Less proficient readers may benefit from shorter time frames until they build more reading stamina, whereas better readers may read successfully for longer periods of time.

Independent reading requires differentiated instruction This is especially true for English learners and struggling readers, as IR experiences are even more important for these students than for others. These students need help selecting books, more support during reading, and more strategy instruction. Most important, they need more IR time than other students. Poor readers typically spend less time reading both in and out of school. Their progress depends on reading practice, which they lack.

Making IR contingent on work completion is a perfect example of why these students don’t get the reading practice they need. Struggling readers seldom complete work early, and miss the reading opportunities they need so much.

Effective IR programs have the potential to not only increase student achievement but also motivate children to discover the love of reading that can last a lifetime.

About the author Barbara Moss, PhD, is a professor of literacy education at San Diego State University, where she teaches classes at the credential, masters, and doctoral levels. She also taught English language arts or reading at every grade level from 3–12 and is the author of numerous journal articles and books about many aspects of literacy learning including close reading, informational texts, and disciplinary literacy. She coauthored (with Debbie Miller)Not This, But That: No More Independent Reading Without Support, published by Heinemann.

References Moss, B. (2016, February) Making independent reading work. Literacy Daily. Retrieved fromhttp://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/ literacy-daily/2016/02/18/making-i...